Millimeter-wave aperture synthesis radiometry for snow and ice mapping

An outline design for a dual-band mm-wave polarimetric SAIR has been presented and is considered to be tractable. The envisaged application is for snow and ice mapping and ocean wind vector measurement. The vastly increased complexity of the high-frequency waveband may not be justified by the scientific benefit and operation at an additional lower frequency such as 18 GHz may give improved classification, though with reduced spatial resolution. The authors describe the outline design for a polarimetric, mm-wave SAIR. One-dimensional aperture synthesis employs a hybrid technique in which a long linear array of real-aperture stick antennas form over-lapping fan beams on the ground and aperture synthesis within the fan beams enables synthesis of the mm-wave image. Critical aspects for building a high-resolution, mm-wave ESTAR are system calibration and the construction of stick antennas that will be 3 m long and about half a wavelength wide.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Dual-beam interferometry for ocean surface current vector mapping

The recent use of along-track interferometry (ATI) in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) has shown promise for synoptic measurement of ocean surface currents. ATI-SARs have been used to estimate wave fields, currents, and current features. This paper describes and analyzes a dual-beam along-track interferometer to provide spatially resolved vector surface velocity estimates with a single pass of an aircraft. The design employs a pair of interferometer beams, one squinted forward and one squinted aft. Each interferometric phase is sensitive to the component of surface Doppler velocity in the direction of the beam. Therefore, a proper combination of these measurements provides a vector surface velocity estimate in one pass of the aircraft. The authors find that precise measurements dictate widely spaced beams and that the spatial resolution for the squinted SAR is essentially identical to the sidelooking case. Practical instrument design issues are discussed, and an airborne system currently in development is described. Through computer simulation, they observe the azimuthal displacement of interferometric phases by moving surfaces identical to those of conventional SAR and find that such displacement can bias the estimated surface velocity.Peer Reviewe

Advanced Multi-Channel SAR Imaging - Measured Data Demonstration

Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is a well-established technique for remote sensing of the Earth. However, conventional SAR systems relying on only a single transmit and receive aperture are not capable of imaging a wide swath with high spatial resolution. Multi-channel SAR concepts, such as systems based on multiple receive apertures in azimuth, promise to overcome these restrictions, thus enabling high-resolution wide-swath imaging. Analysis revealed that these systems imperatively require sophisticated digital processing of the received signals in order to guarantee full performance independently of the spatial sample distribution imposed by the applied pulse repetition frequency (PRF). A suitable algorithm to cope with these challenges of multi-channel data is given by the “multi-channel reconstruction algorithm”, which demonstrated in comprehensive analysis and system design examples its potential for high perform-ance SAR imaging. In this context, various optimization strategies were investigated and aspects of operating multi-channel systems in burst modes such as ScanSAR or TOPS were discussed. Furthermore, a first proof-of-principle showed the algorithm’s applicability to measured multi-channel X-band data gathered by the German Aerospace Cen-ter’s (DLR) airborne F-SAR system. As a next step in the framework of multi-channel azimuth processing, this paper builds on the results recalled above and continues two paths. Firstly, focus is turned to further optimization of the proc-essing algorithm by investigating the classical Space-Time Adaptive Processing (STAP) applied to SAR. Secondly, attention is turned to the analysis of the measured multi-channel data by elaborating the impact and compensation of channel mismatch and by verifying the derived theory

A Tower-Based Radar Study of Temporal Coherence of a Boreal Forest at P-, L-, and C-Bands and Linear Cross Polarization

Cross-polarized temporal coherence observations of a boreal forest, acquired using a tower-based radar, are presented in this article. Temporal coherence is analyzed with respect to frequency, temporal baseline, time of day of observation, season, meteorological variables, and biophysical variables. During the summer, P- and L-band temporal coherence exhibited diurnal cycles, which appeared to be due to high rates of transpiration and convective winds during the day. During the winter, freeze-thaw cycles and precipitation resulted in decorrelation. At temporal baselines of seconds to hours, a high temporal coherence was observed even at C-band. The best observation times of the day were midnight and dawn. Temporal coherence is the main limitation of accuracy in interferometric and tomographic forest applications. The observations from this experiment will allow for better spaceborne SAR mission designs for forest applications, better temporal decorrelation modeling, and more accurate forest parameter estimation algorithms using interferometric and tomographic SAR data

Impact of scene decorrelation on geosynchronous SAR data focusing

We discuss the effects of the clutter on geosynchronous SAR systems exploiting long integration times (from minutes to hours) to counteract for two-way propagation losses and increase azimuth resolution. Only stable targets will be correctly focused whereas unstable targets will spread their energy along azimuth direction. We derive here a generic model for the spreading of the clutter energy based on the power spectral density of the clutter itself. We then assume the Billingsley Intrinsic Clutter Motion model, representing the clutter power spectrum as an exponential decay, and derive the expected GEOSAR signal-to-clutter ratio. We also provide some results from a Ground Based RADAR experiment aimed at assessing the long-term clutter statistics for different scenarios to complement the Internal Clutter Motion model, mainly derived for windblown trees. Finally, we discuss the expected performances of two GEOSAR systems with different acquisition geometries.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Time Domain SAR Processing with GPUs for Airborne Platforms

A time-domain backprojection processor for airborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) has been developed at the University of Massachusetts’ Microwave Remote Sensing Lab (MIRSL). The aim of this work is to produce a SAR processor capable of addressing the motion compensation issues faced by frequency-domain processing algorithms, in order to create well focused SAR imagery suitable for interferometry. The time-domain backprojection algorithm inherently compensates for non-linear platform motion, dependent on the availability of accurate measurements of the motion. The implementation must manage the relatively high computational burden of the backprojection algorithm, which is done using modern graphics processing units (GPUs), programmed with NVIDIA’s CUDA language. An implementation of the Non-Equispaced Fast Fourier Transform (NERFFT) is used to enable efficient and accurate range interpolation as a critical step of the processing. The phase of time- domain processed imagery is dif erent than that of frequency-domain imagery, leading to a potentially different approach to interferometry. This general purpose SAR processor is designed to work with a novel, dual-frequency S- and Ka-band radar system developed at MIRSL as well as the UAVSAR instrument developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. These instruments represent a wide range of SAR system parameters, ensuring the ability of the processor to work with most any airborne SAR. Results are presented from these two systems, showing good performance of the processor itself